Intrinsic motivation does not exist!

Intrinsic motivation does not exist!

So, what really drives you? It’s an important question which psychologists have wrestled with and struggled to explain. What motivates you to get the results or strive for something? Why do some people keep going and others fall off the wagon?

While some psychologists still argue that people perform better when they do something because they want to – rather than for some kind of reward, such as money – Resercher and professor Steven Reiss suggests we shouldn’t even make that distinction.

When it comes to why you do what you do, the motivations are clearly different for different people. We’ve been told that you should ‘do it for the love or curiosity’ but research suggests that whatever drives you is good enough to use to motivate you to your goals.

Some psychologists say intrinsic motivations are “those that arise from within” – doing something because you want to – while extrinsic motivations mean people are seeking a reward. However researcher Stephen Reiss states – “They are taking many diverse human needs and motivations, putting them into just two categories, and then saying one type of motivation is better than another.”

This means that we each need to consider what drives us, to have a goal size or shape, flexibility, strength or to make friends and be socially engaged… or even just to be curious about what we are capable of.

“Individuals differ enormously in what makes them happy – for some competition, winning and wealth are the greatest sources of happiness, but for others, feeling competent or socializing may be more satisfying. The point is that you can’t say some motivations, like money, are inherently inferior.”

This means that you need to find what drives you and feed on that to get the results you are looking for. So why do we have personal trainers, different classes and facilities at MyFitness Club? Everybody is different – so its important to find what drives you to get the results you are looking for.